Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1887-03-24
DIAMOND HISTORY.
Jewels Which Are the Very Es-
sence of Property.
Comparatively Modern Discovery No
Record of the Diamond Prior to
Christ-Curious Fluctuations
In Its Value.

In Its Value.
Strange to say the diamond is mod
ern improvement. There is no historical
record of the diamond prior to Christ,
and Tavernier asserts, probably with
truth, that no large diamonds were in
the market before the sixteenth cent
ury. The first diamonds came from
India, especially Ceylon; the second
large supply from Brazil, which pro-
duced them so fast that the price fell
to 81 a carat, and remained for long
time at about $S carat 1t was prob
ably about that time that the great
royal collections of diamonds were
made.
The collection belonging to the Sui
tan of Turkey, which is probably the
finest in the world, dates prior to the
discovery of America, and undoubtedly
came from Asia. One Turkish Pasha
alone left the empire at his death seven
table-cloths, embroidered with dia-
monds, and sixty bushels of fine pearls
In the last war with Russia, in 1873,
Turkey borrowed 100000, 900 from the
Ottoman Bank on the security of crown
jewels. The cashier of the bank was
admitted to the treasure-chamber and
was told to help himself until he had
enough to secure his advances. 81
selected enough" said he, ''to secure
the bank against loss in any event; but
the removal of the gems l took made
no gap in the accumulation.
The Russians have the largest da-
mond in the world, the Orloff, which
weighs 194a carats and forms the apex
of the Russian scepter. The French
diamond, known as the Regent, which
was stolen at the famous robbery of the
crown jewels in 1892, and was after
ward found in ditch, is 1856 carats,
and was valued at $2,500,00O a hundred
years ago. Who on earth would give
$4,000, 900 for stonep Estimating the
value of money at 5 per cent, the own
er of such a gem would spend 1925, 900
year in loss of interest. The famous
blue diamond, the Sancy, which was
stolen at the same time, has never been
recovered. Perhaps the robber hid it
and died before he thought it safe to
dig it up. Perhaps he was killed and
his secret died with him. AT any rate
it is gone. Louis Napoleon invested
several millions in diamonds; it is part
ly on the proceeds of these jewels that
his widow has been supporting herself
ever since his death. The English
Koh-i-noor is 1921 carats, but it has
been so badly cut that its value is a
matter of uncertainty. The English
nobility have always been lovers of the
diamond. When the Duke of Bucking-
ham was sent to Paris to fetch the
future Queen Henrietta, he wore suit
of clothes valued at S250,000. 1t was
made of satin and uncut velvet, set all
over with diamonds, and the diamonds
were purposely so loosely sewn that
they flew off as the Duke walked, and
persons of base degree picked them up
and carried them off. Prince Ester
hazy is said to have exhibited similar
ostentation at ball at Almack's.
The gem lover will find no such
jewels as these in this country. Occa-
sionally, in the east, one reads of dia-
mond necklace or diamond parure
selling for $4,000. There was at one
time purse-proud parvenu in the
United States Senate who wore $10,-
900 diamond in his shirt front. Gov
ernor Stanford spent $4,000 in dia-
monds at Tiffany's some years ago, and
some of the ladies of San Francisco,
whose jewel cases the reporter is not
privileged to describe, contain gems
representing a sum which would con-
stitute fortune in an ordinary family.
There are diamond necklaces here for
sale at $500 to $500 which would be
as effective in ballroom as a string OF
gems of five times the size. There is
one ring here which contains big
diamond weighing four and hall
carats and two fair rubies; it is worth
$3.50, and is no doubt cheap at the
price. But who would like to &C
through life with the sobriquet of the
Man with the Ring?
1t is curious to note the fuctuation:
in the value of diamonds. About SOC
years ago they were quoted at S225 i
carat. Fifty years later we find them
selling at sos carat. A hundred ant
fifty years later the supply from Bra
zil had increased so large that one
carat stones sold for $40, and shortly
afterward at 81. From this point they
rallied % SS1 per carat at the time o
the French revolution: then. under tn,
pressure of the supply from eNileC
French noblesse, they fell again to $50
During the first sixty or seventy year
Of this century they rose steadily. an'
twenty years ago they were quoted a